Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Buys 434 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,423 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 434 shares during the quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 91,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,091,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.59 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).